On Nov. 3rd, Gangwon-do announced
that it is negotiating with the U.K.’s
Merlin Entertainment Group, which owns the Lego brand, to establish a LegoLand
in Jungdo.

The negotiations between Gangwon-do and the Merlin
Group involve the establishment of a 1.322 million ㎡
(about 400,000 pyeong)
Lego Land in the Jungdo and Chuncheon areas. Also planned is
a spa complex in upper Jungdo and a maritime sports complex, a condominium, a water
park, a hotel, etc., in lower Jungdo.

Also, there are plans to establish a retail
facility in the area surrounding Chuncheon Station, which will be the final stop
of the Gyeongchunseon Bokseon Subway, which is expected to open in December, so
as to allow visitors to enjoy shopping.

The
entrance road will cost 80 billion won to build, and a monorail will be
constructed instead of a bridge to make sure the landscape is not destroyed.

The total project cost is estimated to be
around 500 billion won, and the Merlin Group and Gwangwon-do will invest 100
billion won and 10 billion won, respectively, to establish a Special Purpose
Company (SPC).

Additionally, Gwangwon-do is reviewing the
plan to lease a 1.322 million ㎡ area in Jungdo and Geunhwa-dong, which is owned
by Gwangwon-do and Chuncheon-si, to the Merlin Group for free.

LegoLand is a theme park for
families with children based on the concept and materials of the block toy Lego.
Currently, Lego Lands can be found in the U.S.,
Denmark, England and Germany,
and two others are expected to open in Dubai in
2011 and Malaysia
in 2013.

In addition, Merlin Entertainment is the
world’s second largest tourism facility enterprise and manages fifty-eight
tourism facilities and six hotels in twelve countries, on three continents,
around the world.

However, the Cultural Properties
Protection Act is a major obstacle to carrying out this project, since many
cultural heritages are buried in these areas. Also, the area has attracted much
attention because of the many big projects that have been announced for Jungdo,
which have subsequently made no real progress.

Am-ShikPark, the head of the
Investment Promotion Business Division said, “It is true that we are consulting
with a foreign investment company to attract a world-class theme park to Jungdo,
Chuncheon-si, but nothing has been decided yet. We plan to receive legal advice
from global lawyers regarding the specific conditions as the investment environment
for foreign investors is too strict.”

He added, “In order to prevent the project
from falling in to insolvency, we are considering making it a priority to
invest first in the core facilities of the theme park. If this project goes
well, Chuncheon will become a world-class tourist attraction.”